CRITICAL NOTES.—
Joshua 8:3. Thirty thousand … and sent them away] Probably 30,000 was the entire number chosen to operate against Ai, and of these 5000 were sent, as stated in Joshua 8:12, to form the ambush between Bethel and Ai. To suppose two ambushes, one of 30,000 on the south-west, and one of 5000 on the north-west of the city, requires the further supposition that Joshua would have led all the remaining men of war in the camp, nearly half a million, to the first assault. As the fighting men of Ai could not have amounted to more than two or three thousand, it is not likely that Joshua feigned to flee before this small band with an army of half a million soldiers. On whichever hypothesis the passage is interpreted, there are great difficulties to be explained; but the view suggested, taken with the inartistic repetitions and anticipations of the narrative, which are common also to the historian’s style in chap. 6, affords much the easier solution.
Joshua 8:5. As at the first] The first battle, when the Israelites fled in defeat (chap. Joshua 7:4).
Joshua 8:9. Sent them forth] The five thousand intended for the ambush. Joshua lodged that night among the people] Probably among the twenty-five thousand already in the neighbourhood of Ai. If Joshua lodged in the camp at Gilgal, which was about twenty-five miles from Ai, the ambush would have been compelled to lie in hiding, over one entire day, between the two cities. This could hardly be done without discovery, nor would it have served any purpose to incur such risk.
Joshua 8:10. Joshua rose up early] We may suppose the two divisions of the army to have started about seven o’clock in the evening, having before them a march of some eight hours. This would allow each division to arrive at its destination shortly after three in the morning. Both divisions would probably leave Gilgal in company (Joshua 8:3) and march for four or five hours together, along a common road. The main body would then bear away to the right, to take up its position on the north of the city, while the ambush would diverge to the left, pass Ai on the south, and gain its hiding-place on the west of the city; thus avoiding the danger of discovery from crossing the road between Bethel and Ai. Each division on arriving at its post, say about three o’clock, would proceed to take some rest; “but Joshua lodged that night among the people,” i.e., among the main body of the army. Sleeping for one or two hours, Joshua might rise by five (Joshua 8:10), silently call up, and once more review his army, send messengers across the main road between the two cities to communicate with the ambush, ascertaining their safe arrival, and giving them final instructions (Joshua 8:12); and then, still in “that night” (Joshua 8:13), or by six o’clock in the morning, march his 25,000 men from the temporary encampment on the north of Ai “into the midst of the valley,” and in open view of their enemies. Here they were almost immediately seen, and the men of Ai “hasted and rose up early” (Joshua 8:14), and forthwith the battle began.
Joshua 8:12. And he took] Translated by pluperfect—“He had taken; so Masius, C. a Lapide, and others. “This expresses the sense, but is not justifiable as a translation.” (Keil.) Probably the historian only intended to refer to the communication with the ambush, made in the early morning, from the northern side of the city.
Joshua 8:17. Not a man left in Ai] Not a soldier. It is evident, by Joshua 8:24. that the women, children, and others unable to bear arms remained within the city. Or Bethel] It is likely that Bethel was only one or two miles distant, and the two cities were evidently in league on this occasion. Probably Bethel shared the fate of Ai (cf. chap. Joshua 12:16).
Joshua 8:20. They had no power] Heb.=no hands: there was no direction in which they could flee: they were enclosed on all sides,—surrounded, as we say, “on every hand.”
Joshua 8:25. Twelve thousand] This number is given, not as the number of the soldiers of Ai, but as that of the entire population. In addition to these, it is likely that some of the inhabitants of Bethel were slain on this day.
Joshua 8:29. Hanged on a tree] Possibly he was first slain with the sword (cf. chap. Joshua 10:26). Until eventide] According to the instructions in Deuteronomy 21:22-23.
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.— Joshua 8:3-29
THE ULTIMATE VICTORY OF GOD AND OF TRUTH
I. The variable methods of God. (Joshua 8:3-13.) If we look at the two attacks on Ai, we see that in the first God was not there, while in the last He chose to be present: the first attack failed utterly; in the last, victory was complete. Comparing the overthrow of Jericho and that of Ai, we see that, by the deliberate choice of Jehovah, the attack on the former city lasted seven days, while that on Ai was accomplished in one; the assault on Jericho was without the slightest concealment, that on Ai was made apparently dependent on strategy. In view of these differences it may be remarked:—
1. The Divine method sometimes teaches us that the beginning of real victory is through stern defeat. When Israel suffered defeat, Joshua could not interpret the way of the Lord. He cried, in his anguish, “O Lord, wherefore hast Thou at all brought this people over Jordan?” Now Joshua could clearly see that but for the defeat graciously ordered by God, sin would have prevented victory in its highest form. It was manifest now, that for God to have made Israel triumphant then, would simply have been for Him to have chosen against one sinful people in favour of another. Learn the folly of habitually judging a whole by its parts. We cannot judge a watch by a wheel. We should know almost nothing of the beauty of Handel’s Messiah by taking two or three bars from any one of its choruses or solos. No man could form a good opinion of a poem from one or two lines, selected at random. It would be foolish to endeavour to pronounce on the merits of a painting by examining a small fraction cut from any part of the whole. When we attempt to interpret Divine providence, we can only do it in fragments. God’s plan is very vast: it has relation, not only to our present, but to all our life; it includes not only us, but ten thousand others who surround us. We must not expect to judge the heart of the Lord aright by a broken limb, by a heavy loss of property, by a severe sickness, or by the severity of some trying bereavement. He is wise who studies the love of God in His dealings with men generally, who contemplates “the image of God in the face of Jesus Christ,” and who hears his Lord say, What thou knowest not now thou shalt know hereafter.
2. The Divine method sometimes shews that all real victory depends absolutely on God, and, at others, makes it clear that without the utmost efforts of man, everything will fail. Jericho shewed men that God must be all in all; Ai, that men must do all that human skill and power could devise and execute. Truth is very large, and we cannot learn or even survey it on all sides at once. Men teach their children sometimes reading, sometimes writing, sometimes arithmetic, sometimes poetry; but reading and writing are not adverse the one to the other, nor is arithmetic a contradiction of poetry. God teaches us now one thing, and now another, because our powers of perception are very limited, and our views of truth are necessarily partial, while He is sufficiently gentle and patient to endeavour to lead us into all truth.
3. The variableness of Divine methods has regard to the specific forms of human necessity. If the first experience at Ai had preceded the victory at Jericho, how great would have been the consternation in Israel! If the absolute victory at Jericho had been succeeded by a similar triumph at Ai, notwithstanding the sin of Achan, how sadly might the people have been demoralised! If the defeat which followed the first attack on Ai had been repeated now, how the hearts of the people would have “melted and become as water” indeed! God not only teaches us in separate lessons, but He never teaches us the wrong lesson first. At the entrance into Canaan, even as at the cross of Christ, we hear the Divine voice proclaiming to men: “I have many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now.”
II. The fatuity of the enemies of God. A recent author has said concerning the overthrow of Pharaoh: “It is written that Pharaoh hardened his heart, and this again and again; as well as, and we may be sure to all intents and purposes antecedently to, the fact that the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart. Pharaoh would have it so. Judicial blindness set in after a time; but first there had been cause shewn in Heaven’s chancery court. The infatuation was beyond remedy. The ossification of the heart involved, in its progress and development, paralysis of the brain. Dementation was now the precursor of perdition. ‘Quem Deus vult perdere prius dementat.’ ” Thus it ever proves with those who determinately set themselves against the Lord. Persistent sin works blindness, stupidity, madness; and madness needs only to be left to itself to accomplish destruction. God has ordained that blind folly shall be the outcome of persistent sin, and that destruction, in its turn, shall be the result of folly. Thus did Pharaoh foolishly pursue after Israel into the midst of the sea; and thus, with equal blindness, the three or four thousand men of Ai rushed out of their city against the overwhelming numbers of their foes. It was the forerunning madness of idolatrous men whom God had determined to destroy.
1. The enemies of the Lord are ignorant of the cause of their victories. These idolaters had put down their former triumph to the strength of Aiite arms, utterly unconscious that it was entirely owing to wickedness in Israelitish hearts. It is ever so. The wicked flourish, and do not know that their prosperity is but temporarily given them by God, that His people may be better enabled to discover and put away sin; or that some other equally important purpose is to be served by their brief period of exaltation.
2. The enemies of the Lord are ignorant of changes in God’s appointments. The men of Ai “wist not that there were liers in ambush.” God changes His plan of battle, and while the secret of the Lord is often with them that fear Him, the enemies of truth know nothing of His way: they have no access to His throne, and no acquaintance with His counsels.
3. The enemies of the Lord are absolutely powerless before those whom God guides and helps. “They had no power to flee this way or that way” (Joshua 8:20). (a) They had no way by which to flee (cf. Crit. Notes). They were surrounded on every hand. (b) They had no strength to flee. The hand is sometimes put for the symbol of power, as in Psalms 76:5. Probably the former is the more correct meaning, although it should not be forgotten that, practically taken, it involves the latter. Read in either sense, it is seen that when God makes bare His arm, His foes are utterly helpless; the ways of escape are closed up, and courage and strength fail together.
III. The ultimate triumph of God and of truth. As with the men of Ai, the triumphs of the wicked are but the forerunners of their fall.
1. The final victory of God will leave none to uphold error (Joshua 8:22-25). Not a Canaanite was left to perpetuate idolatry. The wicked live on Divine sufferance, even as others, although they exalt themselves against God: when their salvation has become hopeless, and God wills it, they are removed out of their place. The tares only grow till God’s harvest is ready; when that time comes, God will leave not a single seed to re-sow the “new earth” with sin.
2. The final victory of God will sink the greatest of His foes even lower than the least. “The king of Ai he hanged on a tree,” etc. The measure of a wicked man’s elevation here will be the measure of his degradation when God goes forth for his overthrow; then “the first shall be last.”
“Each minute of man’s safety he does walk
A bridge, no thicker than his frozen breath,
O’er a precipitous and craggy danger
Yawning to death.”
Every enemy of God and truth should feel that, but he who is as a king among the wicked should read in it the most dreadful meaning; beneath the lowest deep which remains for others, he should discover a lower still, yawning for himself. In human wars, officers who are taken prisoners receive superior treatment to that afforded to privates; their fare is better, their lodging superior, and their confinement is sometimes not so strict. This may be well among men, where each side generally represents at least some elements of right and truth. In this war of the Lord, truth and right are all with Him, and, as in cases of rebellion and treason among nations, those who are ringleaders are regarded as being worst.
3. The final victory of God will leave no memorials of error, excepting memorials of shame. Joshua made Ai “an heap for ever,” and over the dead and dishonoured body of its king he raised “a great heap of stones.” The righteous man, “being dead, yet speaketh;” so does the wicked, but every tongue which is left to proclaim his name declares also his disgrace.
OUTLINES AND COMMENTS ON THE VERSES
Joshua 8:3-8.—THE ADDRESS TO THE SOLDIERS OF THE EXPEDITION.
This address marks with some emphasis and distinctness several features in the character of Israel’s leader.
I. Joshua’s obedience. As soon as he knew the Divine will he arose promptly, and at once selected the troops which were to be engaged (Joshua 8:3). The closing words of his address shew that his one concern was to perform the commandment of the Lord (Joshua 8:8). That command was uppermost in his own mind; he would have it stand before everything else in the minds of the people also. A godly man is anxious to do the will of the Lord himself; he is equally concerned to lead others into obedience.
II. Joshua’s prudence. He enters heartily into the details of God’s plan for secresy. The language is evidently that of a man who is in earnest to leave nothing undone to ensure success with as little loss as possible. The people are “sent away in the night.” The plan of the ambush is sufficiently explained to make it of interest to all. It is not enough to be zealous and prompt; God says of Jesus Christ, our pattern in work and conflict: “Behold, my servant shall deal prudently.”
III. Joshua’s courage. “I, and all the people that are with me, will approach unto the city.” Joshua did not send others to do dangerous work, and abstain from it himself. Although, as the commander of the forces, he might not have been personally engaged in the conflict, yet he was present on the field of battle, and evidently shared the dangers of the day.
IV. Joshua’s faith. (Joshua 8:6-7.) If the former of these two verses shews confidence in the success of the stratagem, the latter proclaims that this confidence has its real ground in the promise of Jehovah. Joshua uses the means at his disposal with all the tact and energy possible, and then believes in the Lord. “The Lord your God will deliver it into your hand.” The Divine consolation had left no room for pain, and the Divine promise no room for doubt. The “fear not,” of Joshua 8:1, had banished all anxiety, and the “I have given” had imparted calm assurance. The trust of God’s forgiven children should be as perfect as though they had never fallen under their heavenly Father’s displeasure.
V. Joshua’s authority. (Joshua 8:8.) He made the people feel that his own commands were but the reiterated commands of the Lord.
1. The authority of all God-given words. We too often speak the Lord’s words as if they were our own. He who does this will assuredly weaken them. There are very few things, perhaps, in which we need concern ourselves to imitate men who, in the present day, claim to be priests over their fellows; many ministers might profitably learn from them to teach the Lord’s words as having the Lord’s authority. It is possible to be so intent on commending the truth by argument or anecdote, as to weaken the truth. Many who “beseech men in Christ’s stead,” lamentably need the tone of “ambassadors.”
2. The authority of obedience. “According to the commandment of the Lord shall ye do. See I have commanded you.” The leader who shews his own obedience can shew no better right to be obeyed.
Joshua 8:4.—THE LOCALITY OF AI: ITS SUITABILTITY FOR CONCEALING THE AMBUSH.
“No neighbourhood in Palestine is more crowded with interesting Biblical associations than this. I should like to spend a day wandering over the rough hills between Er Ram, Gibeah, Michmash, Rimmon, Bethel, and Beer. Perhaps we might stumble upon the site of Ai, which Joshua’s curse has hidden from all the world; for he ‘burned Ai, and made it a heap for ever, even a desolation unto this day.’ It must be somewhere between Michmash and Rimmon, a region greatly cut up with gorges and ravines; and as I passed from Beit-în toward Michmash, I could easily understand how Joshua’s ambush of five thousand men could lie hid between Ai and Bethel. Some of our Jerusalem friends identify Ai with a conspicuous mound which I saw from a distance. It bears now no other name than Tell, which you may translate ‘heap;’ and as for ‘desolation,’ it remains complete unto this day. No doubt traces still remain, could we but find them, of that great heap of stones which Joshua raised over the carcass of Ai’s hapless king.”—[The Land and the Book.]
Joshua 8:14-17.—THE CONFLICT OF TRUTH AND ERROR.
It should be borne in mind that this was a religious war. The men who invaded Canaan were the soldiers of the God of truth, and their enemies were fighting, not only for their own territory and their homes, but in support of a cruel and debasing system of idolatry.
In the conflict between truth and error, if we would prove that we are contending on the side of truth:—
I. We need something more than zeal. The King of Ai could rise up early, as well as Joshua, and the men of the city were equally on the alert, to haste with their leader to the battle. One of the arguments, if it be worthy of the name, which we still hear urged on behalf of certain supporters of error is this plea of zeal: “See,” we are told, “how earnest these people are, and how cold and dead are the men who oppose them.” As if the men who made fires for the martyrs were not zealous! As if Bonner were not zealous in burning the Bible! As if he who “goeth about as a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour,” went about idly, and was indifferent concerning his prey! No true soldier of the cross will be “cold and dead;” but he who relies on zeal as sufficient to prove that he is on the Lord’s side, must be prepared to adopt into his brotherhood at least Mahomet, the persecutors of the early Church, many of the worst of the popes, and not a few atheists.
II. We need something more than bravery. While we wonder to see these idolaters so infatuated and blind, we cannot but admire their courage. Though they were visibly outnumbered in the proportion of at least six to one, without counting the ambush of their enemies, they shewed no hesitation in commencing the attack, and in subsequently pursuing after the Israelites. For all that, they were idolaters.
III. We need something more than wise precaution. The expression, “at a time appointed” (Joshua 8:14), shews that the sortie of the idolaters was not wholly reckless. Keil is of opinion that the original word may be rendered in one of three ways: as in the text, “at the signal agreed upon,” or, “at the place appointed.” Of these three translations, he prefers the last as the most appropriate, and then adds: “Evidently before making the sally, the king had arranged with the army, upon what point the attack should be concentrated.” Error has often shewn much organisation and discipline in its attacks on truth. The words in which unbelief assaults faith are not all reckless rodomontade; but intelligence, and the systematic use of it, are not necessarily truth.
IV. We need something more than the general support of those who are about us. “There was not a man left in Ai or Bethel,” etc. (Joshua 8:17). After a long argument, John Wesley is reported to have said, with a view to terminate the discussion by the force of his dominating will: “You may say what you will, sister, the voice of the people is the voice of God.” “Yes, John,” she quietly replied, “it cried, Crucify Him, crucify Him.” Men contend against each other in parties, in families, clans, nations; and oftener than not sides are taken, utterly irrespective of truth and right. The accident of our cradles and our nurseries has more to do with our creeds than many suspect. It is very strange to think how many children of episcopalians grow up to believe in the Church of England, Wesleyans in Methodism. Baptists in immersion, Calvinists in Calvinism, Russians in the Greek Church, Arabs and Turks in Mahometanism, and so on, through endless divisions of our race, and almost every believer is prepared to contend earnestly for his own view of truth, as “the faith once delivered to the saints.” Baal and Ashtoreth against the living God; that was the state of the case in this war in Canaan and while each Canaanite found truth in his idolatry, each Israelite found it only in Jehovah. The line of religious faith was co-extensive and identical with the line dividing the nations. In deciding upon the true religion, it made all the difference whether a man was descended from Ham or Shem, from Canaan or Abram; whether he was left to grow up under the traditions which had accumulated upon a sinful people, or trained by the God of heaven and the pious care of His servants; whether he had a home and a country to defend, or a home and a country to win. When we rely on the unanimity of those about us to assure ourselves that we are on the side of truth, we forget the silent sarcasm of history. In a matter like this, we want light to guide us, not numbers, and light only comes to the obedient. “If any man will do His will, he shall know of the doctrine.” No more arbitrary, and no less true, is that word of the former Testament, “I will visit the sins of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation.” One lifetime is not long enough to grow into the doctrine of truth; it is altogether too short to grow out of a creed that is erroneous.
V. We need something more than temporary success. The servants of truth may “make as if they are beaten,” or, for a season, they may be really beaten; no seeming or even actual prosperity, which is but for a little while, can sufficiently prove that they who pursue are fighting on the side of truth. We need some better guarantee than occasional and momentary triumphs. The same hour that finds us pursuing, may, ere it close, find us fleeing. Happy is that man whose God assures him that his last enemy shall be destroyed, and whose brethren in faith have by myriads quitted life crying, “O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?”
Joshua 8:18-19; Joshua 8:25-26.—THE OUTSTRETCHED SPEAR.
1. The stretching out of human hands towards God is a recognised form of supplicating for mercy. (Cf. Psalms 44:20; Psalms 48:10; Psalms 88:9, etc.)
2. The stretching out of the hand of God towards men is indicative of His anger. (Cf. Proverbs 1:24; Isaiah 5:25; Isaiah 9:12; Isaiah 9:17; Isaiah 9:21; Ezekiel 16:27.)
3. The stretching out of human hands towards things, or men, at the command of God, is also indicative of Divine anger. This, indeed, is the sign for the immediate exercise of Divine power in some judgment. Cf. Exodus 7:19, and repeatedly in the narrative of the ten plagues, in the Chapter s following. See, also, 1 Chronicles 21:16, where it is said that the sword of the angel was “stretched out over Jerusalem. Thus, the conclusion of several of the earlier commentators that there was “nothing figurative” in the outstretched spear of Joshua, appears to be against the evidence.
I. The Lord’s direct encouragement and help of His servants in the time of their most urgent necessity. In these days of calmer thought, and of determinate rejection of superstition, we are little able to estimate the depression and fear which, probably, at this time, distressed the army of Israel. True, their numbers were greatly augmented since their former defeat, but they could not forget they had been beaten. The Israelites had only been forty years away from the idolatrous superstitions of Egypt; they were even now in a country where the inhabitants believed that the gods who had, as they thought, controlled the issue in the first battle of Ai, would no less ordain a similar issue now. To this should be added a recollection of the natural impressibility of the oriental mind. We may measure the depression of the Israelites, at this time, by the absurd and exultant confidence of the Aiites: by so much as the latter were foolishly assured, by so much were the Israelites inclined to fear. We may measure the fear of the Israelites, not less, by the encouragement of Jehovah. The promise of Joshua 8:1 is here repeated, in the very midst of the engagement. God times His help and comfort to His servants’ wants, and makes the measure of it proportionate to His servants’ necessities. Scripture has many instances of such direct interposition. It was thus in the cases of Hagar, of Elijah, of Peter when in prison; of Paul and Silas in the jail at Philippi; of Paul in the castle of Antonia at Jerusalem (Acts 23:11), and of the same apostle on the sea of Adria (Acts 27:23-24). Is there anything to represent such help and encouragement of the Lord’s people now? Surely there is. These instances are not symbols of nothing; they tell us of a heart that never changes, and of a hand, which though it now remains invisible, can always find its own way to bring relief to such as fear God.
II. The Lord’s adoption of such of His servants’ methods as are not out of harmony with Divine principles. “The Lord said unto Joshua, Stretch out the spear,” etc. And no sooner was Joshua’s spear thus stretched out towards Ai, and the signal transmitted, perhaps by watchers, to the ambush far away, than the ambush arose quickly, and entered the city, and set part of it on fire. The stretching out of the spear was evidently a prearranged signal; it was manifestly Joshua’s preconcerted sign to the ambush, and God does but adopt His servant’s plan, and make it His own way.
1. God’s methods for human service are not arbitrary. Much is left to the judgment of men, even in the exalted mission of doing His work. God never crosses our way for the sake of crossing it.
2. God frequently adopts human methods of service. He adopted the way of James in preaching against a faith which lacked works, and Paul’s manner of preaching against works which did not spring from faith. Peter, fastening his eyes on the lame man, lying at the gate Beautiful, said: “Look on us. In the name of Jesus Christ of of Nazareth, rise up and walk.” God adopted that method. Paul, looking upon the cripple of Lystra, did not use Peter’s formula at all; he “said with a loud voice, Stand upright on thy feet.” And this cripple, also, “leaped and walked.” God honoured that method. At Ephesus Paul permitted “handkerchiefs or aprons” to be carried from his body to the sick, and the diseases departed from them. God made that way His own also. At Troas, Eutychus fell down, and was taken up dead. To him “Paul went down, and embracing him said, Trouble not yourselves; for his life is in him.… And they brought the young man alive.” God adopted that method too. Peter, in a similar case, following, perhaps half unconsciously, the well-remembered example of the Saviour, put every one out of the room. His way, with the dead, was to work alone with his God. And so, being there in company with the corpse only, he “kneeled down and prayed; and turning him to the body, said, Tabitha, arise: and she opened her eyes, and when she saw Peter she sat up.” God recognised this way as a good way no less than the other, but not more than the other. His way is to give our individuality perfect liberty. So long as our hearts are right, He has little concern as to our particular manner of working. The Divine way is not to tie us down to set forms of service, but to honour always the work of those who are endeavouring to bless men, and who therein seek to exalt God.
3. God adopts human methods of serving Him only within certain limits. He never recognises by His help methods which traverse Divine principles, and which seek other ways than the way of holiness. The seven sons of Sceva had a great ambition. They wanted to cast out devils, and thus exalt themselves. So they found their man, and cried, “We adjure you by Jesus, whom Paul preacheth.” The formula was good enough, but the spirit was altogether wrong; and “they fled out of that house naked and wounded.” The devil is never driven out of another man by a devil in ourselves. That would be “dividing the house against itself.” He who would succeed against that which is devilish must work together with God. Simon Magus wished to purchase with money the power of conferring the Holy Ghost. To the apostles the idea was revolting, and the thought of the man’s heart was even more obnoxious to God. This was not the Divine method at all. When our way is in harmony with truth, it is ever in harmony with heaven. Within the circle of holiness our methods may take any form whatever, and God will approve them; without that circle, everything which we do is offensive in His sight.
III. The Lord’s encouragement of His servants supplemented by their remembrance of the Lord’s former mercies. “Joshua drew not his hand back” so long as an enemy remained (Joshua 8:26). The leader of Israel could not but have thought of that other battle, forty years before, when the tide of victory had ebbed and flowed in response to the falling and uplifted hands of Moses. It is of no account to say that the spear of Joshua had no such relation to success as the uplifted hands of his forerunner; no one can pronounce on that either way. It is enough to feel that Joshua must have recalled the scene at Rephidim, and then to observe that he kept his own hand persistently steady. On that occasion he had personally led in the conflict, and he would well enough remember how fitfully and sternly the battle had gone. Thinking of that, he keeps his spear steadily outstretched till the last enemy has fallen. God’s present encouragements were great; to the strength given by them, Joshua would add the memory of the mercies of bygone years. We need often special help from on high; God would ever have us use, also, every other aid which our experience affords. In every conflict of the present, we shall do well to recall His goodness in the past.
Joshua 8:20.—THE CRISIS OF THE WICKED.
Sooner or later, all those who oppose themselves against God must prepare to meet their God. When the Lord meets the wicked in conflict and judgment:—
I. The wicked will see all their earthly hopes destroyed. “The smoke of the city ascended up to heaven.” These idolaters saw:—
1. That their houses were destroyed.
2. That all their property and gains were lost.
3. That every earthly hope was cut off.
4. That they had no hope for the life to come.
II. The wicked will have no strength to resist. These men of Ai saw how completely they were at the mercy of their foes, and they became powerless.
III. The wicked will have no direction in which to flee. The idolaters “had no hand” on which they could escape. “The people that fled to the wilderness turned back upon their pursuers.” (Compare Luke 23:30, Revelation 6:16-17, with Isaiah 8:14-15; Isaiah 28:16-17; 1 Peter 2:6.)
Joshua 8:26-29.—VICTORY IN THE LORD’S WAR.
I. The way to victory is through persistent conflict. Our hand is not to be drawn back while a single enemy remains (Joshua 8:26).
II. The rewards of victory are a Divine gift. God took Jericho, as the firstfruits, to shew that all the spoils belonged to Himself; here, according to his word, He gives the earnest of the future possession as from Himself (Joshua 8:27).
III. The object of victory is to blot out sin from the earth. The very cities of this idolatrous land were to be purified by fire (Joshua 8:28).
IV. The doom which follows victory will be according to the desert. The king, who had ruled over these idolaters, and been a leader among transgressors, is singled out for the emphasis of the curse (cf. Deuteronomy 21:23), and is thus made cherem even beyond his brethren.
V. The memorials of victory should be suitable to its mercies. The heap of stones was the customary monument of the times, and, usually, one that long remained to bear its witness.